Outstanding Hispanic students awarded scholarships

Scholarship recipients

The 15 Fairfax County seniors who received college scholarships from the Hispanic Leadership Alliance May 8 are an accomplished lot. The average GPA for the group is 3.9, and some will earn International Baccalaureate diplomas.

Several students have after-school jobs to assist their families, yet still made time for extracurricular activities, school leadership roles, and volunteered with community organizations.

As they recounted their struggles to learn English and adapt to life in America while feeling like outsiders, they thanked their parents and teachers for encouraging them to excel in school.

Three of the students will graduate from Stuart High School:

Jeniffer Gabino Perez tutors elementary school students and volunteers at a food bank while earning a 3.5 GPA. She will enroll in George Mason University in the fall, where she plans to major in biomedical or civil engineering and will be the first in her family to go to college. Despite a rocky childhood, Gabino Perez, credits her mother with helping her develop a positive outlook.

Delia Bisgyer of the Hispanic Leadership Alliance (right) presents a scholarship to Jeniffer Gabino Perez.

Sandy Martinez-Luna achieved a 3.74 GPA and is earning an IB diploma. She is a cheerleader, a member of Stuart’s Impact Club, a leader of the school’s AVID program, volunteered at an SOL boot camp for elementary students, works up to 30 hours a week to help her family, and organized the first Peace Conference at Stuart. She plans to major in social work at Juniata College in Pennsylvania.

Quetzali Andrade-Cruz, also an IB student, earned a 4.03 GPA at Stuart. Her two passions are music and social justice. At Stuart, she was involved in orchestra, chorus, and jazz, and plays guitar and ukulele. Although she is a U.S. citizen, she was angry when, after she applied to William and Mary University, the college requested her parents’ visa status. When she threatened a lawsuit charging that policy is discriminatory, the university accepted her school transcript as proof of domicile.

Andrade-Cruz told the audience she wants “to be a voice for those too afraid to speak up.” She singled out her mother for special thanks, noting, “even if she has go away, she assured me she will find a way for me to go to college.”

Among other scholarship winners, Nadia Deskins (South Lakes High School) served in the State Department’s youth ambassador program and spent a summer in Columbia promoting education and protecting women and children from violence in poor neighborhoods. She plans to study international relations at the University of Miami.

Brayan Perez Brito was homeless for a while after immigrating from Guatemala at age 15. A student at Mountain View High School, an FCPS alternative school, he has become a community leader and dreams of pursuing a career as an astrophysicist. Thanks to the scholarship, he will attend Shenandoah University this fall.

Catherine Martinez (Mount Vernon High School) founded a charity to help girls in Honduras, attended an aerospace summer academy at the Wallops Flight Facility, and presented a mission proposal to NASA. She says her mother, who took college courses at night while working full time, “taught me knowledge is the only treasure to seek.”

The Hispanic Leadership Alliance, an organization of Fairfax County Public Schools employees, has handed out 103 scholarships, totaling $120,000, over the past 13 years. The scholarships are for $500 or $1,000.

About half of this year’s scholarship winners are planning to study engineering or science in college, said Jane Cruz, the outgoing president of the alliance. Others are pursuing careers in social work, international studies, law, architecture, or the arts.

The keynote speaker, Gaston Araoz-Riveros, a regional representative of Sen. Tim Kaine, presented a message from Kaine: Young people need to become leaders because, “a divided world needs your leadership now more than ever.”

FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand urged the students to “be the best you can be every day for the rest of your lives.”